


You Perfectly Completed Me (Oh Boy)

by ordin_yeri



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 00 line minus rj are troublemakers, Alternate Universe - High School, Love at First Sight, M/M, also chenle is mentioned for like a second, and the gym teacher is our fav flaming charisma bc why not, but he's fine dw he's probably practicing dancing or smth, it's only rated t because of occasional language & i guess dirty jokes/references, jaemin sort of disappears as soon as he's not relevant to the plot, mark just wants to go to college don't judge him, meanwhile rj is your typical nice student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 19:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11607855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ordin_yeri/pseuds/ordin_yeri
Summary: Another week in detention for another failed prank, Jeno starts to question if he needs new friends.One look at the new boy in detention and Jeno decides they're meant to be.





	You Perfectly Completed Me (Oh Boy)

**Author's Note:**

> "The fantasy I’ve dreamed of  
> You’ve come to me, come to me, come to me  
> Without a word, you came to me, with a heart-stopping smile  
> You surprised me, I could only blink  
> When our lips were about to touch, time stopped  
> A new season came into me" - Oh Boy, Red Velvet

The school bell rang loud even through the closed door of the classroom. Students hurriedly threw textbooks and pencil cases into backpacks, eager to go home. Jeno wished he had their enthusiasm to go home but knew very well he wouldn’t be heading back for at least another hour. Several students had pushed their way out of the classroom before Jeno even decided to get up from his seat and put his books away in his bag. He’d waste every minute he could before he had to go to detention.

Detention, which he was keen to stress, was _not_ his fault for having. Mostly. Jeno blamed his poor choice in friends for his detention, as he did with most of the detentions he received. He loved them with all his heart but they sure as hell were troublemakers.

He threw his backpack on as he finally left the classroom, starting a reluctant walk to detention. The detention room was only down the corridor from his classroom, and he wasn’t in hurry to get there. He was lucky he knew the person who would be running detention, and especially lucky that it wasn’t a teacher. Jeno passed a long strip of lockers in the corridor, each door labeled with a small white sticker printed with a number in the centre. He remembered only a few months ago he’d been thrown into detention with his idiot friends for rearranging all the locker numbers and causing a school-wide crisis. That week of detention was insufferable - he and his friends had been made to fix the ordering of the lockers. He hoped that this week of detention wouldn’t be quite as bad.

The corridor turned to the right, and Jeno stopped at the first door on the left wall. He still didn’t really want to go in. It wasn’t like this was his fault. He sighed, reluctantly opening the door.

Detention room was much quieter than he expected. Then again, there was a lack of a certain Lee Donghyuck there today - and for a good reason. Sat at the front of the classroom on the teacher’s desk was Mark Lee, who was staring down at some paper attached to a clipboard. He’d been running after school detention since the beginning of the school year, apparently the only senior dumb enough to _want_ to spend an hour of his free time with the detention kids. Jeno remembered Mark telling him that it would look good on his college application. Regardless, Jeno still pitied him for subjecting himself to all the rowdy high schoolers who were regulars in detention.

Jeno closed the door behind him, and Mark looked up from the clipboard. The senior gave a friendly smile to Jeno, signalling for him to come over as he glanced back at his clipboard.

“I was starting to think you were skipping,” Mark hummed, scribbling something on the paper.

“I’m not _that_ bad.”

“Says the boy who has detention for the rest of the week.”

He knew Mark wasn’t saying any of that cruelly, as Mark was definitely one of the most benevolent people who could be running detention. And Jeno could probably count Mark as one of his friends from the amount of time he spent with him (mostly in detention).

“You’re just salty because Hyuck’s not here,” Jeno teased, receiving a kick from the senior in response.

“Just sit down and do your detention shit, stop mocking me _please_.”

He complied, choosing the desk next to the only other person in the room. Normally, there’d be at least five other people there and it would usually include Jeno’s two friends Donghyuck and Jaemin. Both of them were the reason he was stuck in detention for the next week, and both had dodged it somehow. While Jaemin had managed to claim his innocence (which along with his charming smile meant the teachers actually _believed_ him), Donghyuck had to suffer through a week’s isolation during school hours instead. Meaning Jeno had to spend the whole week without his two friends in detention with him.

Jeno took his seat at the desk, dropping his bag on the floor beside him. He wouldn’t be expected to work, probably instead expected to reflect on his reasons for being there. Not that he was planning to do that. He spared a look to the red-haired boy sat at the desk next to him, who had his head down and looked like he was sleeping. Jeno didn’t really blame him because detention sure could get boring. He found himself staring aimlessly at the other boy, curious that he’d never seen him in detention before.

“Pretty sure you’re not here to stare at people you find attractive, Jeno,” Mark commented, sounding amused. Jeno glared at him. By the time he looked back at the boy next to him, the boy in question was sat up straight and gazing at him.

“Oh, um, I thought you were asleep.”

“No. Just thinking,” the boy answered quietly. He didn’t look like he belonged in detention, quiet and gentle-mannered unlike the usual loud and rambunctious people that would be there. Jeno couldn’t stop himself staring at him again, captured even after just meeting him.

“Why are you in detention?” Jeno asked him, still curious about how such a nice-looking boy had ended up with him. Especially after what _he’d_ been involved in to get thrown in detention in the first place.

“I got caught drawing in math.”

Jeno had to restrain himself from laughing in disbelief. It sounded like such a dumb reason to be put in detention, but the offence seemed to match the boy’s personality. It was kind of cute. Jeno wished _his_ reason for being in detention was something as trivial as that.

“I didn’t think there were any teachers who were _that_ petty. Half of my teachers wouldn’t care if I was drawing in class.”

“The teacher was having a bad day, in his defence. I should have been paying attention,” the boy gave a regretful smile. “What did _you_ do to get detention?”

_Oh boy_. Jeno grimaced. He didn’t want to turn the boy against him, knowing very well that his reason for the detention was pretty bad. The last thing he needed was to damage his chances with this clearly attractive boy just because he got involved with the wrong people.

“He was caught planning with his friends to flood the school,” Mark answered, laughing. Hearing someone else say it was more than embarrassing, especially considering he’d never wanted to be involved in the plan in the first place.

“Seriously?” the boy asked, clearly surprised. Jeno found it in himself to look back at the boy and nodded.

“It wasn’t my idea. I was just the brains behind it.”

“The brains who didn’t think it was a bad idea to talk about your plans _in public,_ ” Mark added.

“Your stupid crush is as much to blame for this as me,” Jeno threw back. _That_ shut him up.

“Let me get this right: you and hyung’s crush planned to flood the school and got caught.”

“Yeah. There’s another friend involved too but he got away with it. So I’m stuck in detention for the rest of the week,” Jeno sighed. The other boy hummed in acknowledgement, and Jeno was quite surprised that they still seemed to be on positive terms after the grand reveal.

“You haven’t told me your name,” the boy stated, smiling faintly.

“Um, I’m Jeno.”

“Renjun.”

Once he’d found out the other boy’s name, it started to feel like they were getting somewhere. Jeno was regretting that Renjun would only be in detention with him for that session, because he was enjoying the boy’s company. He didn’t know much about him still, only his name and that he was too pure for this world, but he was already falling for him.

He spent the rest of the detention in his own thoughts, trying to appear like he was reflecting on his wrong-doings while busy drowning in questions about the boy sat to his right. Was it _too_ forward to keeping asking questions to a boy you’d just met? If Donghyuck was here, he would definitely be encouraging Jeno to talk to this boy. Then again, if Donghyuck was here he’d be busy pretending he was oblivious to Mark’s obvious flirting. But maybe if Jaemin was here _he_ might be of some help.

“Hour’s up, guys. Go home and play video games or something,” Mark told them. Jeno reached for his bag and got out of his seat, pulling the bag onto his back as he glanced back to Renjun.

“I’ll see you around?” he asked, hoping that he would.

“I’d like that,” Renjun agreed.

Jeno gave him one last smile before leaving the detention room, heading for the exit of the school. He didn’t think detention without his friends would be so eventful and he was ecstatic he’d met Renjun. It was probably too early to say he liked the boy, but he couldn’t deny he was attracted.

As he reached the front doors of the school, he felt his mobile phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the messages that showed on the lockscreen.

_Mark: dude you’re so whipped for him_

_Mark: bet you’d like to know that he stayed back to ask me about you_

_Mark: you’re welcome btw_

 

 

 

Jeno sat in the science lab, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive along with the teacher. Normally, he’d have his two best friends sat either side of him but with Donghyuck in isolation he was left alone with Jaemin. Although they were friends, Jeno couldn’t help but feel tense knowing that Jaemin had gotten away with being involved in their planned stunt while _he_ had to suffer through a week’s worth of detentions. Donghyuck had always tried to tell them that no matter what happened with the pranks he planned, they all stuck together until the end. If that was true, why were only two of them being punished?

He tried not to pay attention to his friend, instead pretending to read through some of the notes he’d made in previous science lessons in preparation for the class. He didn’t really care for half of the stuff in the notes but it gave him an excuse not to talk to Jaemin.

The door of the classroom shut firmly; Jeno glanced up to see the teacher walk to the blackboard and start making notes with a squeaky piece of chalk. However, his eyes were drawn away from the teacher and towards a certain red-headed individual sat at the front of the classroom by window. Jeno felt nervous at the sight of Renjun - how hadn’t he noticed that he shared a class with him before?

As if sensing that Jeno was staring at him, Renjun turned around and made eye contact with him. The boy smiled at him, also seeming surprised that they shared their science class. The moment was interrupted when Jaemin kicked him in the shin, and Jeno quickly turned back to his friend. He didn’t get why his friend had felt the need to kick him until the teacher spoke up, “As I recall, you are in this class to _learn_. If you’d rather stare out the window, Lee Jeno, then may I suggest you do that in your _own time?”_

The teacher was looking directly at him with a stern glare, Jeno gave an apologetic look in return. The class continued, the teacher satisfied with having called him out in front of his classmates. He still found himself gazing in Renjun’s direction, the boy occasionally turning around to smile at him. It made the class somewhat more bearable, though Jeno still wished he was somewhere else.

“Alright class, I’m going to get some supplies from the science storeroom for our practical experiment. While I’m gone, please start writing down your hypothesis. You know the drill by now.” She walked to the door and left the classroom, the noise quickly picking up as his classmates saw the opportunity to talk to their friends.

Much like the rest of the students, Jeno didn’t have any intention of doing work while the teacher was out of the classroom. He relaxed back in his seat, wishing he could be somewhere else.

“What’s the deal with you today?” Jaemin asked quietly, not looking his way.

“Nothing.”

Jeno glanced to his seatmate, who didn’t look convinced at his response. “If this is about what I think it is, then _I’m sorry._ ”

“It’s not just me you need to be apologising to. Hyuck’s in _isolation_.”

Their teacher returned to class briefly, holding onto a large cardboard box before placing it at the front of the classroom. Not long after arriving, she left again. Jeno sighed. He _had_ to get out of there.

He reached for his backpack from where at sat on the floor, picking it up and getting out of his seat. He could hear Jaemin protesting at him as he left the classroom, but he honestly didn’t care. Down the corridor, he walked as far away from the classroom as possible. The last thing he needed was to be in a class he wasn’t enthusiastic about while he was in a bad mood with his seatmate.

Jeno knew he was probably being childish in ignoring his friend just because they hadn’t all been punished together. However, if he’d learned one thing in his friendship with Donghyuck it was that there was _always_ time to sulk and be awkward. And right now, Jeno was craving chocolate so he decided to make his aimless journey go towards the nearest vending machine.

A journey, which he thought would be alone.

“Jeno, wait up!”

The last person he expected to join him in skipping class was Renjun. The boy waved enthusiastically at him and sprinted to catch up. Jeno just stared at him in disbelief.

“You realise I’m skipping class, right?” Jeno asked, really needing to clarify whether the boy (who seemed like a perfect student to him) was actually planning to skip class with him.

“Yeah. I’ve never skipped class before, I’m a little scared.”

Jeno led the way down the corridor, still not sure why Renjun had followed him out of class. He felt guilty that he was potentially leading the boy astray.

“You don’t have to skip class just because I am, you know.” Jeno directed his companion as the corridor turned to the right and towards the vending machines that stood adjacent to a strip of lockers.

“I know, but it seemed like something was on your mind. I thought you might want to talk,” Renjun told him as they stopped at one of the vending machines. Jeno reached for some coins in his blazer pocket, feeding several of them into the vending machine.

“Not really. I appreciate the thought, though.” Jeno pressed in the button next to his choice of chocolate bar and waited for the machine to push it forward and drop it.

“What if we get caught?”

The chocolate bar dropped down, and Jeno crouched to retrieve it from the tray at the bottom of the machine. “We won’t. Do you want something while we’re here?”

“A bottle of water maybe? I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

Jeno stood up with his chocolate bar in hand and put more money into the machine. He wasn’t sure what it was about Renjun that was different from everyone else, but he was sure he would _never_ offer to buy stuff for people normally. As Mark had told him in text messages the previous night, he indeed was whipped for him.

He pressed in the button by the water bottles, letting one of them fall down. Before he had chance to get the water, they were interrupted. Jeno regretted telling Renjun that they weren’t going to get caught.

“And why are _two_ of my students dawdling around by vending machines when they should be in class?”

Jeno turned around at the sound of his teacher’s voice in surprise and saw her stood in front of them, not looking impressed after finding them skipping. He glanced to Renjun beside him, who looked pale after being caught.

“Um, he was feeling sick so I took him to get some water to drink,” Jeno told her, though he couldn’t make eye contact throughout his lie.

“Really. So why do you have _chocolate?”_ she asked, pointing at the chocolate bar he was clutching. Remembering he hadn’t retrieved the water bottle yet, he quickly reached for it in the tray beneath the vending machine and handed it to Renjun.

“I thought it might brighten him up a bit? Don’t they say that sugar can really make you feel better?” Their teacher gave him an unconvinced look. “Alright, this was _my_ idea. If you’re going to punish someone, I’m to blame.”

“That’s more like it. I’m sure you’d enjoy a few more days in detention, wouldn’t you? Now get back to class.”

Jeno nodded and started to walk back to class with Renjun close behind him. The teacher didn’t follow, probably having gone to get more supplies. He felt so guilty that he’d nearly got the other boy into trouble. He really hoped that he hadn’t ruined his chances with him.

“You didn’t have to cover for me,” Renjun told him, smiling slightly.

“It’s fine. I practically live in detention anyway,” he joked, receiving a gentle shove in response.

“Yeah, well maybe if you weren’t such a troublemaker you wouldn’t always be in detention.”

“Trouble has its way of finding me.”

They reached their science classroom, Jeno pushed open the door and held it open for Renjun. The elder boy gave a grateful smile before stepping inside the classroom. Jeno returned to his seat next to Jaemin, who looked confused. He watched Renjun also return to his seat at the front of the classroom, not looking back but seeming to be happy.

“I guess you got caught, then?” Jaemin asked him quietly.

“I’m really not in the mood to talk right now,” Jeno dismissed. Jaemin sighed and turned away from him, paying attention to his work instead. Yes, Jeno felt bad for pushing away his friend, but he wasn’t in the right mindset to be talking. He knew if he let himself talk, he’d say something he’d regret.

The teacher returned to the class and started handing out items for the experiments, looking displeased when she reached Jeno’s desk. He didn’t blame her, but he also couldn’t feel bad about walking out of her class. In his mind, if he didn’t want to learn then there was no point being there.

But with Renjun there to give him moral support, he figured he had a pretty good reason to stay in class until the end.

 

 

 

When Jeno went to detention after school had finished, he wasn’t expecting to see Donghyuck already in the detention room. Jeno tried to hide his surprise at seeing his friend as he moved towards one of the desks in the centre of the room. He sat down, then reached into his backpack for his notebook and a pen.

“Hey Jeno. I was told you've got another week in detention.”

He looked up from his notebook, nodding nonchalantly to Mark. The pair sat side by side on the desk at the front. Jeno could see that Mark was itching to move closer to the boy sat beside him. It was amusing to see the senior crushing so hard, even moreso considering that _both_ Jeno and Donghyuck knew about the situation.

“I got caught skipping class,” Jeno sighed, and he saw Donghyuck smirking at him.

“It's almost like you're _trying_ to get put in isolation with me.”

He turned back to his notebook, writing the date at the top of the page before starting to make notes in preparation for his history test in the morning. He listed years in the margin of the page and wrote the matching events next to them.

“Hyuck, why are you even here?” he asked, not looking up from his notes. “Pretty sure you don't need to come to detention as long as you're in isolation.”

“I'm waiting for detention to end, then I'm going to Mark hyung’s house.”

_That_ gave him a reason to glance back at the pair in confusion. Donghyuck gave a knowing smirk, swinging his legs playfully, while Mark was purposefully avoiding looking at either of them.

“Didn't you get grounded?” Jeno challenged him.

“It wasn't hard to convince my parents to let me off for tonight when I told them I'd be with the senior who runs detention. They think hyung will be a good example for me.”

Donghyuck glanced at Mark, who was still shyly looking away, and placed a hand on his thigh. Mark visibly stiffened and Jeno noticed he was blushing.

“Don't worry hyung, I'll be a good boy,” Donghyuck said sweetly.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Mark got up from the desk and approached Jeno, seeming glad to have moved away from Donghyuck, “Are you missing your detention buddy from yesterday?”

Jeno glared at him for mentioning that in front of Donghyuck, who bounded over to Jeno’s desk excitedly.

“Oooh, who's this 'detention buddy’?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Maybe because after detention yesterday he was asking me loads of questions about you? I gave him your number, you know,” Mark smiled mischievously.

Jeno wanted them to leave him alone, not out of malice towards them but because he'd rather not have them interfering with his personal life. Even if one of them was his best friend and the other was crushing on his best friend.

“He's not messaged me.”

“It's been less than a day, _chill_.”

Not wanting to humour them any further, Jeno continued making notes in an effort to ignore them. After a few more minutes standing over him, the pair gave up and returned to the desk at the front. Jeno could hear them talking quietly, smiling to himself as he thought about how they'd almost definitely end up dating each other.

The thought that Mark had given Jeno's number to Renjun made his heart race. At this point, he couldn't deny he was interested in the boy. He wondered what Mark had actually told Renjun about him, hoping any weird and embarrassing secrets hadn't been passed on.

It was curious to him that Renjun had been given Jeno's number, yet he'd still not contacted him. Yes, it had been less than twenty four hours, but why would he bother asking for someone's number if he didn't intend to make contact? Unless he _hadn't_ asked for it, and Mark had just given it to him instead.

The remainder of the hour in detention passed quickly. He started to put away his notebook and pen in his backpack. Donghyuck slowly approached him, and Jeno looked up at him.

“What's up, Hyuck?” Jeno asked, getting out of his seat and putting on his backpack. He wasn't sure he liked the smile Donghyuck was giving him.

“Your detention buddy from yesterday… I'm guessing he's the cute redhead waiting outside?”

Jeno quickly turned to the door, not quite believing Donghyuck. He grimaced as he saw the boy in question stood outside the detention room, the door partially open already.

“You have fun on your date with Mark hyung,” he told Donghyuck instead of answering the question.

“It's not a date,” Donghyuck protested, keeping his voice quiet so Mark wouldn't hear.

“Of course not.” Jeno headed towards the door, briefly turning back to the pair still in the classroom. “Stay safe, losers. Use protection!”

He left the room and shut the door behind him so he wouldn't have to hear them protesting any further at him. Teasing them was fun.

Renjun stood beside him, seeming curious about the partial conversation he'd overheard. Jeno smiled at him.

“I heard you got more time in detention because of me,” Renjun told him, leading him towards the main entrance of the school. Jeno shrugged. “I wanted to make it up to you. So… want to get some food?”

“We only met yesterday, isn't it too soon for the first date?” he joked, glancing at his companion to see him pouting cutely.

“Are you _really_ turning down free food?”

He smiled, knowing a reply wasn’t necessary, and let Renjun continue leading him to wherever they were apparently going to get food.

 

 

 

Jeno sat in a booth at the local coffee shop, having been instructed to wait there while Renjun bought him food. He couldn't complain about getting free food from his new friend, just glad he'd been given the opportunity to befriend someone so nice.

He wasn't sure if it was too soon to call what they had a ‘friendship’. It had only been a day, when his other friendships had taken _weeks_ to properly get going.

After a few minutes, Renjun joined him at the table holding two cups of hot chocolate, and carefully balanced on top were two muffins. He sat down on the other side of the table from Jeno, smiling gently as he handed the drink and muffin to Jeno.

“I still feel bad for getting you into trouble, but I appreciate you covering up for me.”

He took a sip of the hot chocolate, burning his mouth a little. He found it kind of cute as Renjun kept apologising to him for something he thought was second nature to do. Being friends with Donghyuck meant he was used to having to cover for other people.

“It's fine, don't worry so much. Plus, with Mark hyung running detention it's no real stress,” he reassured Renjun. “I'm guessing you're not normally a student who gets into trouble?”

“Yesterday was my first offence,” Renjun sighed. “I'm a good student, unlike you it seems.”

“My best friend is a terrible influence, it's not my fault,” Jeno laughed.

“Then you should probably find a new best friend before you go to college. I'm sure Donghyuck is lovely, but you shouldn't let him be a negative influence over you.”

“Believe me, he's _not_ lovely. I've known him all my life, though, so I'm stuck with him.”

He was aware that he was far too easily swayed to going along with Donghyuck’s schemes but it felt like his duty to stand beside his best friend. Jeno knew he'd feel guilty if one day he let Donghyuck get in trouble by himself.

For as long as he could remember, Donghyuck was always trying to cause trouble. In elementary, Jeno remembered how Donghyuck would start food fights just for the fun of it. And in middle school, he'd balance buckets of water on top of doors and wait for someone to go through and get drenched.

Jeno had always tried to stop his best friend from getting into too much trouble, holding him back from fights on several occasions. He was also the reason that Jaemin had become part of their friendship group, after the younger boy had witnessed Jeno and Donghyuck in the process of swiping their classmates’ gym clothes.

_“Hey, what are you doing?”_

_Jeno and Donghyuck froze at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, turning to see who had caught them. They couldn't afford to be found responsible for another prank so soon after their last._

_The boy stood in the shadows of the changing room, but Jeno recognised him as Na Jaemin who he shared math class with. The boy looked nervous towards the scene he had interrupted._

_Donghyuck looked ready to tell him to get lost, defensively clutching onto someone's shirt he'd stolen from their gym locker. Jeno knew if he let Donghyuck do as he wished, Jaemin would probably snitch on them. He had to intervene._

_“Jaemin, do you want to help us? It's just a prank.”_

_The younger boy hesitated for a moment, before joining them in their prank. They didn't get caught, all backing up each other’s alibis._

Ever since that event, the three of them had stuck together in their schemes. Having Jaemin as part of their group calmed down Donghyuck’s plans for a while, not wanting to make their new friend feel like they were going too far.

But with Donghyuck, things _always_ ended up going too far. It turned out that planning to flood the school was too far for Jaemin, and the youngest member of the group had quickly feigned ignorance about their masterplan.

Jeno grimaced, taking another sip of the hot chocolate. It was starting to cool to a more drinkable temperature. Thinking about the events leading up to the flooding incident, he realised that he didn’t really blame Jaemin for ditching them. In fact, Jeno thought he probably should have done the same.

“Hey,” Renjun reached across the table and prodded him. Jeno looked up, realising he’d been zoned out. “What’s on your mind?”

“I think I need new friends, you’re right.”

Renjun gave a victorious grin, “I told you. And if you’re looking for someone to be your friend… I guess I’m willing to take you up on that offer.”

“This was just an ulterior motive to become my friend, wasn’t it?” Jeno laughed, and Renjun smiled innocently.

“You caught me. So, what do you think?”

Jeno pretended to think for a few moments before he found himself smiling, “Alright, _friend_.”

 

 

 

Now he was officially Renjun’s friend, Jeno found it even easier to talk to the boy. Conversation came natural and the time passed quickly that they spent together at the coffee shop. With each minute he spent with Renjun, the more charmed he was.

He figured it was love at first sight, as he had been interested in Renjun before he even knew the boy’s name. Jeno hadn’t thought he would ever be one of those people in all the cliché rom-coms who with one look would be head-over-heels in love.

“Hey, it’s getting late,” Renjun smiled at him. Jeno noticed how much he was starting to like that smile. “Can I walk you home?”

“You’re _really_ making this sound like a date,” Jeno grinned.

“Did you think that maybe I was doing that _intentionally?”_

Jeno had to stop himself from visibly reacting to that statement. The fact that Renjun was openly flirting with him was making his heart race. He started to consider that maybe the feeling was mutual. It probably was, Jeno thought, but he wasn’t nearly ready enough to approach _that_ situation yet.

“Well if you insist on walking me home, you’d better kiss me on my doorstep,” he teased, hoping to win at the flirting game.

“Hmm, we’ll see. It depends how well-behaved you are on the way there.”

They got up from their seats in the booth and walked side by side to the door at the front of the coffee shop. He couldn’t hide the smile on his face at being with someone so enjoyable as they left the shop, with Jeno leading the way towards his home.

“You’re not bothered by me flirting with you?” Renjun asked quietly. He was staring down at the pavement as they walked together, seeming to be a little nervous.

“I’ve literally been flirting back, how can you think I’d be bothered by it?” Jeno reassured him, looking back to check the elder boy was alright. Renjun looked up and made eye contact with him, smiling slightly.

“I don’t know what it is about you, but I’m never normally like this with people.”

“Maybe my natural charisma is contagious?” Jeno laughed, and received a playful shove in return. He led Renjun across the road, making sure it was clear first, then directed him down a grassy path. It was a shortcut, though he wasn’t using it to purposefully shorten the journey. Renjun stayed close to him the whole way back, determined not to fall too far behind.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Renjun asked him as the path opened out onto an estate.

“Depends if we share any other lessons. Tomorrow I’ve got math, history and science.”

“I guess we only share science class.”

Still, the thought of being in class with Renjun again gave Jeno some motivation that he could get through that school day to get to that moment. He was really beginning to enjoy spending time with him.

Jeno’s house was on the estate, probably only about a five minute walk away, so he knew his time with Renjun was limited. He’d have to wait until tomorrow to see him again.

“Did you seriously want me to kiss you on your doorstep?”

Jeno felt his cheeks warming at the sudden question and found himself laughing nervously, “I don’t know how to answer that.”

They reached his house, and Jeno guided Renjun to his doorstep. He figured this was the moment of truth for him. He didn’t make a move to open the door and go inside, much preferring to stand with Renjun in front of him. The older boy had one of his warmest smiles on his face.

“I enjoyed spending some time with you, even if I _did_ land you in detention.”

“If I hadn’t got that detention from skipping class, would you have still taken me to the coffee shop?” Jeno asked him.

“I guess not,” Renjun shrugged. “I’ll have to get you in trouble more often if it means I can hang out with you.”

“Or maybe _don’t_ get me into trouble and I’ll hang out with you anyway?” he laughed.

“I’ll be on my best behaviour,” Renjun teased. “I’ve got to go home now, but we can talk tomorrow?”

Jeno nodded, really looking forward to when he’d see Renjun again. He thought he’d have to bid farewell to his new friend there and then, so he was pretty surprised the elder boy reached out his hand towards his cheek. Renjun pulled him closer, turning his head slightly. Jeno felt the brush of lips against his left cheek briefly before Renjun stepped back, beaming.

“You _did_ say you wanted to be kissed on your doorstep. See you tomorrow!”

 

As Jeno walked through the main entrance of school the next morning, his thoughts were still all about the impromptu coffee shop date with Renjun. He had to maintain his relaxed image while he was in school, even though inside he’d been panicking about the idea that Renjun had actually kissed him (on the cheek, but it was still a victory for Jeno).

On his way to math class, he wasn’t even thinking about how boring the class would be. He was excited to get through the day so his science lesson with Renjun would come sooner. Yes, he was into him. Far too much, probably.

He walked through the door of his math class and headed straight to his desk. His seatmate, like in most classes they shared together, was Jaemin. Yesterday, he wouldn't have been in a good enough mood to even entertain the idea of talking to him. But today, Jeno couldn't care less about being petty or holding grudges.

Jaemin seemed like he wanted to talk to him, watching Jeno unpack his math book from his bag. Jeno intended to wait until Jaemin spoke to him, considering he must have appeared to have been in a bad mood with Jaemin yesterday. He was. But he was over that now.

“Jeno, can we talk?”

“You already _are_ talking, dumbass.” The younger boy remained quiet, and when Jeno looked at him to see he was okay he noticed Jaemin looked quite defensive. He clearly hadn't heard the joking tone. “Jae, chill. We can talk.”

“I wanted to apologise to you again. I've not been able to speak to Hyuck because of the isolation and he's grounded at home. I just couldn't get in trouble again and not for something so _big_. I won't get my scholarship if I have too much of a bad record.”

Jeno nodded in understanding. Jaemin was intending to gain a dance scholarship at an arts college, and had been stressing endlessly about whether he met the requirements. He still had a year before they'd be heading off to college, but their teachers were constantly reminding them about how every action and every test result would matter when it came to applying for college.

“Half of the stuff on your record is minor things, though. You were barely involved in this one, I doubt they'd have punished you that much.”

“I couldn't risk it. Plus, my parents would have lost it if they found out I was helping a plan to flood the school. I'm sorry, you know I am.”

Jeno reassuringly reached for Jaemin's hand and gave it a squeeze, “It's fine. I get it. I was just in a bad mood yesterday, but I've moved on.”

Seeing Jaemin smile at him signalled that their brief confrontation was over and they could go back to being civil with each other. It felt good for the situation to have been diffused and for Jeno to have one of his closest friends back. As the teacher entered the classroom, Jeno optimistically thought that this day was going to be a good day.

 

 

 

_13:02_

_(unknown number): come study with me in the library!!!_

_(unknown number): pleeeease im lonely and i need my fav person!!!!_

Jeno left his history class to see a collection of texts from an unknown number. He assumed they were from Renjun - he was the only person who could write such pure text messages. He didn't even consider _not_ going to meet Renjun in the library, and headed straight there.

He didn't really have any reason to spend lunch in the canteen, because Donghyuck was still in isolation and Jaemin was at his piano lesson in the music block. He would have been eating alone anyway, and who would want to eat shitty school food without moral support?

The school library was larger than any of the classrooms, with tall bookshelves creating aisles down the main body of the room. Small tables meant for studying sat at the end of each bookshelf. Jeno assumed he'd find his friend at one of the tables so he wandered down one of the aisles in search.

He spotted the redhead sat at the end of the third aisle, head down in his notes and jotting down something. Jeno approached him, taking the seat next to him.

“You came!” Renjun smiled, looking up from his notes at the sound of movement.

“How long have you had my number?” Jeno asked him, even though he already knew the answer. He was just curious to see Renjun’s reaction.

Renjun looked a little shy upon hearing the question. “Oh, um, since Tuesday. I asked Mark for it.”

“It's cool, don't worry.”

The elder boy nodded and went back to making more notes. His notebook was filled with neat handwriting and colourful highlighting, with occasional doodles in the corners of the page. Jeno couldn't say his own notes were _that_ messy because he could navigate them easily enough, but he had a bad habit of scribbling out mistakes and smudging ink. He was just clumsy.

“Are you actually going to study while you're here?” Renjun asked, not looking up from his notebook.

“I prefer to keep my free time as _free_ time. I'd rather rush doing homework just before class begins.”

“And you wonder why you're always in detention,” Renjun laughed. Jeno found himself smiling simply at the sound of the other boy's laughter.

“I'm the kind of boy your parents tell you not to get involved with,” Jeno grinned. “I’m a loveable troublemaker who never does their homework on time. That practically puts me on the same level as murderers and dealers.”

“Don't put yourself down so much. You're basically a normal high school student. Most high schoolers do the same stuff.”

Jeno knew he didn't deserve someone as kind as Renjun in his life but he was sure as hell glad he'd met him. He sat quietly for a bit, glancing around the library as it had been a while since he'd last been in there.

He didn't really need to fill the silence with conversation. For him, just being in the presence of Renjun was enough to keep him happy. It was quite relaxing to watch Renjun making more neat notes.

But, of course, there will always be an end to silence.

“What's that word?” Jeno asked, pointing at something Renjun had just written.

“ _'Spherical’_. Why?”

“You've spelt it wrong. It ends with 'al’ not 'le’.”

“No it's-- wait, you're right. Do you have any white out fluid?”

“Do I really look like someone who carries _white out fluid_ with me?”

Renjun stared at him for a moment, probably thinking about what to do next. He couldn't risk messing up his notes.

“Can you ask the librarian for some?”

Jeno nodded and got out of the seat. At least he had something to do. He strolled down the aisle of bookshelves towards the librarian’s desk at the front of the library.

“Do you, um, have any white out fluid I could use?” he asked the librarian. She stared at him. “Please?”

She nodded and reached into a drawer in the desk and pulled out a small bottle of white out fluid. She handed it to Jeno, and he thanked her as he returned to Renjun.

Jeno sometimes has to question why the hell he does certain things. This thought especially was running through his mind after he decided it would be a good idea to throw the bottle of white out fluid towards Renjun as he neared him.

The bottle burst in the air, and Jeno honestly couldn't look at the mess it had made. When he finally looked at Renjun, he saw the boy's uniform was covered with the bottle's contents.

“Oh shit.”

For some reason, Renjun didn't look annoyed. Jeno knew of that had happened to _him_ , he'd be more than annoyed.

“I’ll just change into my gym kit, it's fine,” Renjun reassured him, and started packing away his work into his bag.

Jeno was still in shock from what had happened and stood watching Renjun. The older boy got out of his seat, picking up his schoolbag and Jeno's. He handed Jeno his bag, still smiling.

“I'm really sorry,” Jeno apologised and Renjun grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him out of the library.

“It's fine! Honestly!”

Jeno let himself be dragged down the corridor and towards one of the walls filled with lockers. He assumed this was where Renjun's locker was.

“Wait, you'll get in trouble if you're caught in your gym kit!”

“If anyone tries to dress code me, I'll explain everything,” Renjun answered, taking his gym kit out of the locker. He was still holding Jeno's wrist.

“No no no. Let _me_ wear the gym kit. You can wear my uniform.”

Renjun shut the locker door and turned to look at Jeno, confused. “Why?”

“Because this is my fault. Please. It would make me feel better.”

“Alright.”

Jeno let himself be dragged away from the lockers and towards the nearest bathroom. He couldn't help but think it was weird that they'd be switching clothes.

Renjun handed his gym kit to Jeno with a smile, “You change first, then you can give me your uniform.”

He nodded and entered the nearest bathroom stall, locking the door. Jeno opened the gym bag and pulled out the t-shirt and shorts, grimacing as he saw the size of the outfit. He hadn't considered that Renjun was shorter than him until now.

Jeno knew he didn't have much of a choice now he'd agreed to do the uniform switch, so he changed into the gym kit. He could complain later.

He opened the door to the cubicle and shuffled out, clutching the uniform he'd changed out of and the gym bag containing only a pair of trainers. He felt a little uncomfortable wearing the ill-fitting clothes.

“How do I look?” Jeno asked uncertainly, handing over his uniform to Renjun. The elder boy looked him up and down, almost like he was checking him out.

“It really accentuates your natural features,” Renjun answered, smirking and staring behind him.

“When you're done staring at my ass, you can go and change.”

Renjun gave a guilty smile and took the uniform into one of the toilet stalls. Jeno heard the door click shut and decided to use the opportunity to check how tight the gym kit actually was by looking in a mirror over one of the sinks.

The gym kit was more or less skin tight, with only a bit of breathing room. As Renjun had said, it was really accentuating his shape. Which was great if he wanted to show himself off to potential suitors, but in reality the only person he was remotely interested in had already checked him out.

Was it weird that his crush would be wearing his school uniform? Kind of. Was it weirder that he was wearing his crush’s gym kit? Definitely. He desperately wanted to distract himself from thinking about both of those facts, but as he heard the stall door open Jeno couldn’t help but stare at Renjun. His school uniform was on the large side, hanging loosely over Renjun’s figure. The sleeves were too long, covering his hands, and he looked _really cute_.

“We should get to class,” Renjun smiled, clearly noticing Jeno’s stares. Jeno nodded, more than glad to leave the bathroom. He pushed opened the door, holding it so Renjun could follow him out.

He’d be lying if he said he was okay with walking around in an ill-fitting gym kit. Jeno could see people staring at him as he and Renjun headed to their science class, probably wondering why he wasn’t wearing his uniform. He hadn’t ever felt self-conscious before, usually more than comfortable with his appearance, but the sudden attention was intimidating.

The school bell rang the moment that the pair entered their classroom. The teacher was already stood at the front of class, writing on the blackboard as the two boys went to their seats. Jeno noticed many of their classmates staring at him wearing the gym kit. He refused to meet any of their looks, getting his books out of his bag instead.

He turned to the next clean page in his notebook, ready for class to start. Jeno was determined to stay focused even though he could feel his classmates turning around in their seats to look at him. Even Jaemin next to him seemed to be staring.

The teacher began the lesson, instructing them on the formulas they would need to answer specific questions (which they would be working on later in the class). Like the model student he should have been, Jeno made notes about the calculations. He was sure the teacher had noticed he wasn’t in his uniform from the occasional lingering looks. For once, Jeno would have preferred a quiet lesson.

“Right, you all know what you’re doing. Work through the questions on page 47 in the textbook. The first person to correctly answer them all gets bragging rights.”

Jeno turned his attention to the textbook that sat between him and Jaemin on the table, glancing at the questions and the little diagrams on the page. Before he had chance to even write the question number in his notebook, he sensed that someone was stood in front of the desk. He glanced forward and made eye contact with his teacher, her stern eyes staring back.

“I don’t need help with the work. I know what I’m doing,” Jeno told her quietly, hoping she’d leave him alone.

“While that’s good to hear, I’m more interested in the reason you’ve decided our school uniform is beneath you.”

Several of his classmates turned around to hear the answer themselves, clearly having been curious from the moment he stepped through the door. He could see Renjun watching from the side of the room, looking apologetic.

“I got white out fluid on it. So I changed into my gym kit.”

She didn’t look convinced, still bitter about his and Renjun’s expedition out of her class the previous day.

“Well I don’t suppose giving you another detention is going to do much, is it? You’ve probably made the detention room your home by now.” He stayed silent, not wanting to provoke her any further. By the sounds of it, he wouldn’t even have to use his natural charm to get himself out of trouble. “I expect to see you in your full uniform by your next lesson, or I will report this to the principal.”

“Um, teacher?”

The teacher turned to look at Renjun, who had approached her after hearing her talking to Jeno. He didn’t see how this could go well.

“Do you have something to add?” the teacher challenged.

“This is, um, this is _my_ fault. I made the mess, Jeno doesn’t deserve to be punished for what I did.”

“I see how it is. He stands up for you when you skip class together, and you stand up for him when he doesn't fancy wearing a uniform. You want to stick with your partner in crime? You can join him in detention tonight. Now, return to your seat and get on with your work.”

She walked back towards the front of the classroom and sat at the desk. Renjun looked lost after being told he’d be going to detention again and slowly made his way to his desk. Jeno felt bad for him - he’d defended him and got punished for it instead.

At least it gave him another opportunity to spend another detention with his crush.

 

 

 

“I’m going to be in so much trouble when my parents find out about this.”

Jeno felt himself smiling as he and Renjun walked to the detention room together. It was reassuring to hear someone actually worried about having a detention. He'd grown far to used to the regular detentions a while back.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, though. I’ll back you up if you need someone to cover for you.”

“We keep covering for each other, don’t we?” Renjun laughed and Jeno found himself staring at his charming smile.

“That’s what friends are for.”

The pair entered the detention room, immediately heading to two desks at the centre of the room. Mark was already sat at the front of the room, scrolling through something on his phone. He only looked up once the pair had sat down and taken out their notebooks to start working.

Mark gazed at the pair, a look of amusement present on his face. Jeno knew what he was thinking; he was probably curious about the reason Jeno and Renjun were in detention together again.

“Nice of you to turn up in a gym kit,” Mark grinned.

“Yeah, I thought I’d try something different,” Jeno smiled back, playing along with his senior.

“And you didn’t think you would wear _your own_ gym kit? Because that one is clearly too small on you. Looks like the two of you swapped clothes - that is _so_ couple goals.”

Jeno glanced to Renjun, keen to assess the other’s reaction to them being referred to as a couple. The older boy was trying to make it look like he was deeply immersed in writing in his notebook, but his pen hovered above the page without making contact. He looked flustered, with a pink tinge across his cheeks.

“That’s pretty rich coming from the guy who took Hyuck home yesterday,” Jeno smirked back. Renjun glanced towards Mark at hearing Jeno’s comeback. “How _was_ the date, by the way?”

Mark glared back at him. “It wasn’t a date.”

Jeno shook his head, smiling. He didn’t need to start a lengthy argument with Mark over whether it was a date or not. Jeno knew very well that if for some reason it _was_ totally platonic, it would only be a matter of time before the pair would get an actual date with each other.

“So what’s the deal with hyung and your friend?” Renjun whispered to him. Jeno glanced over to him and grinned. Finally a new audience to talk about Mark and Donghyuck to.

“Hyung’s been crushing and Hyuck since last year,” Jeno explained, smiling the whole time at the opportunity to share the gossip. “Hyuck and Jaemin go to drama club together outside school, and they were putting on a showcase. The two of them made me come along to watch the performance, so I dragged Mark hyung with me. Turns out he’d never heard Hyuck sing before and ever since he’s been whipped.”

“Is the feeling mutual?”

He looked towards Mark, checking the senior wasn’t listening. He was contently on his phone again, seemingly typing something.

“Yeah. Hyuck thinks it’s adorable how much hyung’s into him. They’re kind of a dream pairing,” he smiled.

“So all it takes to win hyung’s heart is a good singing voice? Even I could score him then,” Renjun grinned cheekily. Jeno gave a cute pout at hearing Renjun talking about Mark like that and not him.

“I’d prefer it if you sung to _me_ instead.”

“I’ll add ‘romantic serenade’ to the list of dumb gestures you want me to do, then. I’m guessing kissing you on your doorstep wasn’t enough for you,” the older boy teased him. What had previously been quiet flirting had clearly increased in volume, as now Mark was staring at the pair of them looking a cross between concerned and excited.

“You two did what now?” Mark asked, hardly hiding the mischievous grin on his face.

“Believe me, it’s not what you think,” Jeno sighed, hoping he’d put off Mark from questioning him more. And mainly he hoped to stop Mark passing on that information to Donghyuck, who’d undoubtedly hound him with questions if he found out. “And don’t get jealous, hyung, just because both of us put together are better at flirting than you are with Hyuck.”

“I’m going to strangle you.”

Jeno leaned back in his seat, amused at being able to make Mark flustered (though, admittedly, it wasn’t hard to do that). He enjoyed playing around, especially since it distracted him from thinking about how openly Renjun had been flirting with him again. To be fair, Jeno had been flirting back just as much.

“I’m pretty sure assaulting students won’t look good on your college application,” Jeno challenged.

“You’d deserve it, so I wouldn’t care about the consequences,” Mark grimaced. He glanced at his phone briefly, before looking back at the pair of boys. “Detention hour’s over, now get the hell out of here.”

Jeno was almost disappointed that he had to go home, but he reminded himself that he _was_ in detention. He’d barely done any work in the hour. He gladly put away his notebook in his backpack and got out of his seat, waiting for Renjun before leaving the classroom. Together, they walked out of the detention room.

“I bet you’ll miss my company in all the rest of your detentions,” Renjun grinned, and Jeno felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder. He was really starting to like the skinship.

“Why, are you planning to avoid trouble for the next week and a half?”

“Since we’ve established that _you_ are trouble, I’d rather not avoid you.”

Jeno felt a smile grow on his face after hearing what was probably a compliment. They neared the main entrance of the school, Jeno realised that he’d never found out what direction Renjun’s home was and there was a chance he wouldn’t actually get to walk home with him.

Renjun seemed to sense what he was thinking and asked, “You’re going to ask me to walk you home again, aren’t you?”

“Why, are you offering?”

“I can’t today. I’m babysitting a family friend tonight and I’ve got to get his place before he burns it down or something.”

They stopped just outside the school’s automatic doors, stood facing each other. Jeno had to hide his disappointment that he’d have to head home alone today (and that he wouldn’t get another doorstep kiss).

“But you’d consider walking me home another night?” Jeno teased.

Renjun appeared thoughtful for a moment before answering, “You can count on it.”

As they parted company, heading their separate ways, Jeno felt enthusiastic that there would definitely been more opportunities for him to spend time with Renjun. He really enjoyed the other’s company, crush or not, and walking home with him on other occasions would be much better than walking home alone.

He paced down the pavement, looking forward to getting home and being able to do his own things. Having detentions so regularly was starting to take a toll on him, and he was really starting to feel robbed of his time after school.

Normally during his time after school (when he didn’t have detention), Jeno would probably be with Donghyuck and Jaemin. They never really did homework together, keen to fulfil their roles as the troublemakers (well, at least Donghyuck thought that way), often playing video games or planning their next prank.

Now, he was having to fit another person into his life. Donghyuck and Jaemin would only be absent for so long, though, and Jeno found himself wondering how he’d involve Renjun in his activities once the other two were able to spend time with him. Would he have to prioritise his old friends over his new one? Or would he force them all together?

His phone buzzed in his hands, distracting him from his thoughts temporarily. Without his school uniform, Jeno didn’t have any pockets to put the phone in so had been holding it the whole journey. He unlocked it and opened his messages, seeing he’d received several from his newest contact:

_Renjun: me again!! i know it’s only been a few minutes since we were together but still_

_Renjun: im sorry i couldnt walk you home like you wanted ;) i don’t trust leaving chenle alone in the house_

_Renjun: and im sorry about everything that happened with you wearing my gym kit (but i promise you did look good!!!)_

_Renjun: ill bring in your uniform tomorrow, so hopefully you can get away with wearing everything minus the blazer and tie until i get it to you <3 _

 

 

 

Jeno was halfway through tying the laces of his gym shoes, sat in the school’s changing rooms, when he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked to the source, curious since no one tended to bother their classmates while they were getting changed for gym class.

“Why did I not know why share gym as well?” Renjun asked him in amazement. Jeno was equally amazed that he’d not noticed either. He figured he’d been far too into the class to recognise any of his classmates.

It wasn’t the first time they’d interacted throughout the day - they’d met up by the school’s entrance before the day started so Renjun could return the borrowed uniform to Jeno and so Jeno could return Renjun’s gym kit. Since then, they’d been in separate classes and not seen each other. They didn’t even hang out during dinner, instead Jeno helped Jaemin practice for a dance performance he had coming up.

“Are you any good at gym?” Jeno asked curiously, standing up from the bench and walking out of the changing room with Renjun.

The older boy shrugged, “It's not my _worst_ subject. And it's not my best either.”

Jeno gave him an encouraging pat on the back as they followed the stream of other boys to the school basketball court, “If we're on opposite teams, I'll go easy on you.”

Their gym teacher, Mr. Choi (one of the few teachers Jeno respected enough to learn the guy's name), joined them on the court and began instructing them. They were reminded it was a friendly game, and only a bit of practice in case they wanted to join the team.

They weren't given the option to choose their teammates, instead Mr. Choi divided them in half based on where they stood on the court. Fortunately for Jeno, Renjun was stood close enough to him that they were by default on the same team.

The game began, running fairly smoothly for a sports game between teenaged boys. Usually things got far too competitive. Jeno was the kind of person willing to get himself involved in the game, actively moving around the court with his teammates. He wasn't quite confident enough to attempt shooting the ball, but he was comfortable passing to those who were.

Renjun, on the other hand, was desperately trying to avoid participating in the match at all. He stood towards the back corner of the court, probably under the premise he was ‘defending’ the goal. Jeno spared glances to him every now and then, feeling somewhat sympathetic that he didn't have any choice but to take part.

Mr. Choi blew his whistle and signalled for the boys to gather around him. He glared at the group, clearly not impressed.

“It seems that not everyone is taking this seriously,” he stated. “I don't think I need to name names, but let me tell you if I catch anyone else half-assing this lesson I'll make you do laps around the athletics track.”

The boys were sent back to the court and Jeno wandered towards a guilty-looking Renjun.

“I'm no good at stuff like this,” he admitted. The whistle sounded and the game recommenced. Jeno still stood beside his friend.

“I'll try pass to you or something. Then at least you'll look involved.”

Jeno didn't give him a chance to reply, instead dashing off into the action of the game. The other team were in possession of the ball, but some quick-footed action from one of Jeno's teammates quickly switched around the game. Jeno moved to a good position on the court, trying to move around one of the opposition who was blocking him.

He was given a clear shot, and was thrown the ball. Jeno quickly glanced around to see which of his teammates were around him. At some point between them talking and Jeno leaving him, Renjun had moved closer to the action on the court. Given his lack of sporting ability, no one was blocking him.

Jeno made eye contact with him and was met with a panicked look in return. He didn't really have any choice - all his good teammates weren't a clear shot. He decided to make the move and threw the ball to Renjun.

Or, to be more accurate, he threw the ball _at_ Renjun. It hit him square in the face, knocking him over almost instantly. The whistle blew and Jeno stood in shock, looking down at his friend sat on the ground and holding his hands over his face.

Mr. Choi approached the situation, crouching down beside Renjun, “Are you injured?”

Renjun didn't answer, just shifting his hands slightly towards Mr. Choi. Jeno swore he saw blood on his hands, and hurried over to Renjun and his teacher.

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to give you a concussion or anything!” Jeno said, panicked.

“He'll be fine,” Mr. Choi reassured him as he helped Renjun stand up. “Looks like you've just given him a nosebleed. Worse case scenario is a broken nose. Just take him to the medical room and get him sorted.”

Jeno nodded, putting a hand on Renjun's back as he guided him off the basketball court. He felt terrible for causing the injury and hoped it wasn't anything serious.

They walked around the outside of the sports block towards the main building, where the medical room was. Jeno felt like he had to say something, at least give an apology or something.

“Are you okay?” Jeno asked quietly, deciding that was the safest option to ask. He wasn't sure why he was being so careful considering how close they were.

“I'll be fine, relax,” was the muffled reply from behind Renjun's hands.

Jeno led him into the medical room, waving at the school nurse behind the desk to catch her attention. She looked over to them from her computer and sighed.

“Injury from gym class?” she asked, sounding tired.

“I accidentally hit him with a basketball,” Jeno admitted.

The school nurse got out of her seat behind the desk and approached the pair, prying away Renjun's hands from his face to assess the damage.

“Go sit on one of the beds until the bleeding stops. I'll give you an ice pack.”

The two boys wandered to the nearest bed of the three in the room, which Jeno doubted were ever used for anything more than sitting on, and waited for the nurse to come over to them.

They sat side by side on the bed and Jeno swung his legs nervously. The school nurse handed them the ice pack, which Renjun gladly received and held to his face.

“I've got to attend to some errands, so I'll trust you boys and leave you here,” she announced, not giving them an opportunity to respond before leaving. If silence was deafening, Jeno certainly felt that it was now.

“I’m so sorry, Jun, I really can't express it enough,” Jeno apologised.

“Are we already at the point where we shorten each other's names?” Renjun asked quietly, holding the ice pack away from him for a few moments. “You called me Jun.”

“If you don't like it, I won't do it.”

“No, I like it!” Renjun smiled. A fresh drop of blood dripped down his face and he quickly held the ice pack close again.

“Sorry, I'm just feeling so stressed after injuring you.”

“Stop apologising or I swear I'll shove this ice pack down your gym shorts.”

Jeno knew he didn't mean anything from the playful threat, but the thought of it had his cheeks heating up and he had to look away. He was already embarrassed about injuring his crush, and he certainly didn't need anything else to embarrass him.

He wasn't sure what made him start thinking it, but Jeno found himself feeling like he wanted to make a move and kiss his friend. With nothing else to occupy himself with while he sat in the medical room, Jeno was captivated with watching Renjun holding the ice pack to his face.

Renjun was gazing towards the far side of the room, not paying attention to his company or his own actions. There was something about how effortlessly he was acting, and everything else he'd fallen in love with, that had Jeno feeling desperate to do something.

He wasn't aware of how much time had passed by the time the ice pack was discarded and placed on the bed beside them. Renjun got up briefly and returned with tissues to clean up the blood. Jeno, now trying to be subtle in his observations, watched as the blood was cleaned away. He was so hopelessly in love that even the blood didn't make him feel any less strongly about his friend.

Renjun turned to him and Jeno made eye contact. He hadn't wanted to look at him because he was so afraid he'd reveal his feelings, but like everything with Renjun he found himself doing it anyway and falling deeper.

He didn't want to do something he'd regret. When Renjun gave a small smile and Jeno started staring at his lips, he had to restrain himself from acting. Then again, he considered whether he'd even regret making a move. It was all he'd wanted to do for the past few days.

Jeno touched his hand gently against Renjun's cheek, moving his thumb lightly. He found it quite soothing and judging by the way Renjun's eyes fell shut, he wasn't the only one enjoying it.

Every part of him was desperate to kiss him. Except for maybe his common sense, but Jeno didn't want to lose the opportunity in case he wasn't given another one. Jeno also closed his eyes, hoping maybe he wouldn't feel as terrified if he did, and leaned closer.

He was so close to getting what he wanted. Only an inch or two and he could die happy.

The sound of running footsteps approaching the medical room made them both open their eyes and glance towards the door. Neither seemed to consider their close proximity until the person bounded through the door.

Renjun and Jeno quickly shifted away from each other when they saw Donghyuck enter the room.

“Sup, assholes?”

It took a lot of restraint to stop himself glaring at his best friend, especially as Donghyuck bounded over to the pair of them and sat down next to Jeno on the bed. He had no idea what he’d interrupted.

“You’re supposed to be in isolation,” Jeno stated, still trying to process all the recent events. He’d _nearly_ _kissed_ his crush. And now, Renjun couldn’t look at him, instead covering his hands over his face again. Jeno felt terrible.

“I’m sick so I got sent here,” Donghyuck smiled. Jeno stared at him in disbelief, because he sure as hell didn’t _look_ sick. “I forcibly made myself sick,” he clarified.

“You’re gross,” Jeno forced a smile. Normally, it was be so easy to talk to his best friend but he couldn’t help but feel resentful about the interruption.

“You’d have done the same!” Donghyuck laughed in defense. “The silence was tedious. I’m not allowed to talk to anyone unless I’m asking the teacher for shit like paper. They don’t even trust me to go and _pee_ by myself.”

“Then why are you not being accompanied now?” Jeno asked, seeing Donghyuck smirking back at him. Good to know that isolation wasn’t crushing his mischievous character at all.

“They’re not really used to having isolation kids throwing up in the room so the teacher panicked. I guess they thought I’d be too sick to misbehave. Boy, they don’t know shit about me.”

Jeno couldn’t bring himself to force the conversation any further, finding it much easier to stare down at the tiled floor than at either of the two people sat with him. He wished they’d never been interrupted, mainly so he could get the kiss he was so desperate for. But also, it was killing him seeing his new friend looking so uncomfortable.

“Alright, what’s going on? You two idiots are being far too quiet,” Donghyuck asked, looking towards them both. He couldn’t admit what was really wrong. Donghyuck would never shut up about it if he found out the truth.

“Not everyone is as obnoxiously loud as you are _all the time_ ,” Jeno defended.

“What about your buddy? Injun is being awfully quiet.”

Renjun reluctantly glanced towards Jeno and Donghyuck. “Nothing’s going on. But we should get back to class now the bleeding has stopped.”

Jeno silently agreed, getting up from the bed at the same time as Renjun. Donghyuck looked confused, smart enough to know there was something they were hiding from him. The pair walked out of the medical room together, heading back to the sports building. Jeno wasn’t sure if the class would be over yet or not, but he had no particular desire to join in with the basketball game.

Neither of them talked the whole way back, both of them probably too embarrassed to do so. Jeno began to doubt whether he’d done the right thing in making a move in the first place, and started to blame himself for the mess. To put it bluntly, Jeno felt like shit.

 

 

 

Ever since the incident during gym class, Jeno had been in a terrible mood. As he made his way to detention, he desperately wished he could forget the entire day’s events. Or even better, go back in time and start the day again.

He’d barely walked through the doorway into the detention room before Mark had approached him, looking very worried. Mark had always been good at telling what was wrong with people just with one look.

“You look like shit.”

Jeno avoided looking at him, “Thanks, hyung.”

There were other students in the room attending detention, compared to the previous few days. Mark recognised that Jeno probably wouldn’t want to talk in front of them all and led him outside of the detention room, closing the door behind him.

“Talk to me, Jeno. You’re not normally like this,” Mark gently told him, placing a hand on his shoulder in support. He really didn’t deserve to know someone as caring as Mark.

“This conversation is just between us.” Mark nodded, and Jeno knew he could trust him. “I nearly kissed him earlier. I think… we both wanted it. We were in the medical room because I accidently threw a basketball at his face. But we were interrupted by Hyuck - he made himself sick and got sent to the medical room too.”

Mark stared at him in shock, clearly not expecting anything romantic to actually happen between the two boys. “I’m guessing you didn’t try and continue after you were interrupted?”

Jeno shook his head, “No. It was kind of awkward. We haven’t even talked since we left the medical room.”

“Look, I know this must be hard for you. But, it can’t be _that_ bad of a situation if both of you wanted to kiss each other.” Mark took a step away from him, looking away and running a hand through his hair. Jeno hoped he wasn’t causing him any stress by opening up about his situation.

“I’m sorry for dumping all this on you, hyung. I just feel pretty terrible right now. I hope I haven’t messed up things between me and him,” Jeno sighed.

“I don’t mind, honestly,” Mark smiled. It was somewhat reassuring to see some positivity. “You’re not really in the right state of mind to be sat in detention for the rest of the hour, so I’m telling you to head home. I’ll cover for you if anyone asks.”

He stared at the senior in disbelief. Jeno had never doubted how caring Mark was, but covering up while he skipped detention over a broken heart seemed too much. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am. It’s the weekend tomorrow so hopefully you’ll have time to get over this.”

Feeling guilty about bailing out of detention, Jeno reluctantly waved Mark goodbye and walked away from the detention room. Mark was right: he could use the weekend to move on. It was the perfect opportunity to decide whether he’d apologise to Renjun and stay as friends, or whether he’d try again to start the romance he was so eager for.

 

 

 

Waking up to the sound of his phone ringing was not how Jeno planned for his weekend to start. He didn’t want to check what time it was - positive that he’d find out it was much earlier than he’d want to be awake at. The phone kept ringing on the bedside table, but Jeno made no move to reach for it. He was far too tired for entertaining people.

The ringing stopped and Jeno was pretty thankful for the silence. He slowly let himself wake up (though in an ideal world he’d prefer to go back to sleep). Light poured into the room through a gap in the curtains, creating a bright column across the carpeted floor.

He glanced to his bedside table to check the time on his alarm clock (which he’d not used as an actual alarm in about seven years) - it was 10:32am. Before he had a chance to decide whether he should go back to sleep or not, his phone started ringing again. Whoever it was, they sure were persistent.

Jeno reached for the phone and checked the caller ID, picking up the phone call to avoid the caller’s wrath.

“Morning, asshole,” Donghyuck greeted him.

“Can we save this conversation for a more sane time in the day?” Jeno whined, but was only met with laughs on the other side of the phone.

“Get your ass to the coffee shop by 11. _That_ will wake you up, I’m sure.”

“What’s the occasion? Looking for someone to third-wheel with you and Mark hyung?” Jeno grinned, sitting up in his bed and pushing the sheets off him.

“If that’s the reason that will get you to join us, then we’ll go with that.”

Jeno found himself suspicious at the sudden invitation. He didn’t really want to leave his bed, especially considering he had plenty of reason to mope around following the events during gym class. He’d known Donghyuck long enough to know there was always a bigger picture.

“Alright, _fine_. I’ll get there when I can.”

He ended the phone call and got out of bed, feeling that this would be one of these social events that he would hate being part of, with no choice but to attend. Also, he wasn’t quite sure whether third-wheeling was any better than moping about his own failure of a love life.

_At least Mark hyung can give me moral support,_ Jeno thought to himself as he rummaged through his wardrobe for some decent clothes. He could only hope it wouldn’t be as bad as he worried it might be.

 

 

 

Jeno stepped through the doors to the coffee shop, looking around for where Donghyuck and Mark were sat. He was ten minutes early (mainly because he was terrified of what Donghyuck might do to him if he turned up late) but he figured that the pair would also be early. If they were early, it meant they got to spend more time as just the two of them.

He found them sat in the booth located at the furthest corner of the coffee shop. As he approached them, Jeno noticed they were sat quite close together and talking quietly.

“Hey lovers,” Jeno greeted them and the pair shifted away from each other, putting on warm smiles at seeing their friend.

Jeno sat on the other side of the table, noticing the other two boys sharing looks with each other. They knew something he didn’t.

“Shouldn’t you still be grounded?” he asked Donghyuck.

“My parents think I’m studying with Mark hyung right now,” Donghyuck answered, looking smug. Jeno really had no idea why Donghyuck’s parents were so relaxed about the fact their son had been caught planning to flood the school. Given all of his previous offences, Jeno thought Donghyuck’s parents should have been punishing him more.

Mark, who was sat at the outside of the booth, excused himself from the table and disappeared out of view. Jeno shrugged, assuming he was fetching his drink or something.

“I heard that I might have accidently interrupted something yesterday,” Donghyuck told him quietly, acting oddly serious for once.

Jeno didn’t make eye contact with him, feeling his mood dropping just at the mention of what happened yesterday. “Mark told you?”

“Only because I was involved. I’m really sorry, Jeno. You know I wouldn’t have done that on purpose.”

He nodded and Donghyuck smiled back. Donghyuck could be an asshole sometimes, occasionally to his friends as well, but he knew not to hurt them on purpose.

Mark returned to the table holding a white mug and sat down next to Donghyuck, pushing the mug towards Jeno. He was about to thank him when someone else sat down in the booth with them, next to Jeno. The other person was quiet and looked nervous.

Jeno should have known that they’d invite Renjun. The other two boys looked guilty as sin.

“So instead of having me third-wheel, you decided to make this a double date,” Jeno grinned, which seemed to relax Donghyuck and Mark. He glanced to Renjun sat beside him, who also seemed to be much more relaxed at hearing Jeno acting as if nothing had happened.

“Who said anything about a double date?” Mark asked, laughing nervously and looking away from the other three boys in the booth. He reached for his drink and took a sip. Jeno looked towards Donghyuck for clarification, but the younger boy just shrugged and smirked. He was _definitely_ suspicious of what was going on between those two.

Jeno sat quietly, holding his hot chocolate and letting it warm his hands. He didn’t want to meet them at the coffee shop in the first place, and now seeing that they invited Renjun as well made him think that Mark and Donghyuck were trying to set them up.

The boy sat next to him gave him a nudge, and Jeno turned to him. Renjun met his gaze and smiled warmly. Jeno smiled back, realising he’d missed seeing the other boy smiling since the incident yesterday. He felt a hand hesitantly touch his thigh and Jeno had to hide his surprise at the forwardness of the action. Making sure the other two weren’t watching (they weren’t), Jeno carefully placed his hand on top of Renjun’s and he felt the older boy relax.

Ever since they’d met, their relationship had been different from other friendships Jeno had had. All of their interactions felt slightly more than platonic. He’d honestly never felt so comfortable with someone before he met Renjun.

Considering it was supposed to be a social event, the boys didn’t talk as a group. At most, Mark and Donghyuck seemed to be quietly talking to each other, but the other side of the table stayed silent. After feeling so low when they’d been interrupted in the medical room, being in each other’s company was much healthier than sharing words.

Once all of them had finished their drinks, they got up to leave (because apparently it would be rude to stay sat inside the coffee shop if they didn’t have drinks anymore, according to the eldest member of their group). Jeno noticed how Renjun stayed closed to him as they walked out of the entrance and onto the pavement, and also how the other two boys seemed to stick close to each other.

“We were planning to head back to hyung’s place… just the two of us, you know?” Donghyuck told Jeno and Renjun, seeming a little reluctant to tell them anything else. They were _definitely_ a thing, Jeno decided.

“You know what I’ve told you before,” he smiled back. “Stay safe.”

Donghyuck glared at him, though he could tell there was no malice behind the look. “If you say ‘use protection’, I’m going to backhand you.”

“Come on, Hyuck. Let’s go,” Mark instructed him. Donghyuck sighed and waved farewell to Jeno and Renjun, walking away from them with Mark by his side. This must have been part of their plan - to leave Jeno and Renjun alone to talk things over while the other two had fun. Jeno wasn’t sure if his friends were considerate or mean.

“So, um, what do you want to do?” Jeno asked Renjun, turning to face him. He wasn’t sure he liked Renjun’s mischievous grin and braced himself for whatever he was going to be told.

“Hmm… what about go on a second date with you?”

Jeno stared at him, trying to think of a decent reply to that. He was delighted that Renjun seemed to be still interested in him, but Jeno was also internally panicking because _Renjun was still interested in him._

“Remind me, was the first date when you took me to the coffee shop after detention or was it today?”

“I think today was more for the other two’s benefit than ours, don’t you think? You haven’t said whether you want to fulfil my request, though.”

He pretended to deliberate for a few moments, enjoying watching Renjun eagerly awaiting his response.

“I think we could,” Jeno answered, his companion starting to smile warmly again. “But first, I think I want to kiss you? If that’s alright with you.”

Neither of them did anything for a few moments, taking time to think through what they would do next. Jeno waited patiently, gazing fondly at Renjun, until the older boy gave a small nod. He stepped closer to the other boy and watched his eyes fall closed. He felt hesitant again to do anything, even though they’d verbally agreed they both wanted this.

Jeno decided he’d regret it even more if he backed out again and close the distance between them. It was a soft and gentle gesture, and Jeno touched his hand against Renjun’s cheek, brushing his thumb over the skin in a calming manner. He felt as Renjun pulled him closer by grasping onto his t-shirt, and he could hardly protest.

They parted only as Jeno found himself breathless, gladly taking the opportunity to catch his breath. Renjun still stood close to him - close enough that they could easily lean back in for another go. For now, Jeno was content. He’d finally got what he wanted, and the other person involved seemed just as happy as he was.

Love at first sight really _was_ legitimate. Or else, he wouldn’t have been lucky enough to meet and fall for Renjun in the first place.

 

* * *

 

_EXTRA._

 

When Jeno left the school building after detention, he found Renjun waiting by the entrance for him. A smile started to form on his face as soon as he saw the other boy and his pace quickened, eager to be in his company.

“Hey Jun,” he greeted, stopping beside Renjun whose expression warmed at seeing him.

“Hey. You saw Mark hyung in detention, right?” Renjun asked. “If he doesn’t get here soon with Donghyuck then I’m not sure how we’re going to force them on another double date.”

Jeno grinned in amusement. Ever since the first double date (even though the currently absent boys had claimed it _wasn’t_ a double date), Renjun and Jeno had been determined to have another one so they could force Mark and Donghyuck together. Except, Jeno didn’t think that was really necessary anymore.

“Yeah, he was in detention. But he left early. With _Hyuck_.”

“So I’m guessing they won’t be joining us then?”

“They might,” Jeno smiled. “Currently, they’re making out down the corridor from the detention room.”

“ _Gross_. I think we should ditch them,” Renjun announced, still appearing to be in mock-disgust at the idea of their friends making out.

“Just the two of us? You should come back to my place.” He received a playful punch in the arm for that comment.

“Don’t get any weird ideas, you creep.”

“You still love me.”

_“Sure.”_

_FIN._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again, long time no see! Exams and stuff, y'know. I have been writing while my exams have been running and I've got a 40k completed fic that I'm going to do a second edit of eventually because it's potentially triggering. I also wrote the first half of this while exams were on and only just picked it up again last week.
> 
> Please let me know if there's any dodgy formatting around italics, because I did have a look through and tried to amend it but I might have missed something. Also, feel free to suggest things for me to write next. I have a list of ideas to write and I'm planning to do a birthday fic for a certain Mark Lee next, but I'm game for most pairings (especially if the Dreamies are involved).
> 
> Hope you're all feeling good and that your day goes well :)
> 
> Twitter: twitter.com/ordin_yeri  
> Tumblr: ordin-yeri.tumblr.com


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